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Challenges of Providing Health Care in Complex Emergencies: A Systematic Review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2021

Hesam Seyedin Open the ORCID record for Hesam Seyedin [Opens in a new window] ,
Morteza Rostamian Open the ORCID record for Morteza Rostamian [Opens in a new window] ,
Fahimeh Barghi Shirazi Open the ORCID record for Fahimeh Barghi Shirazi [Opens in a new window]  and
Haleh Adibi Larijani Open the ORCID record for Haleh Adibi Larijani [Opens in a new window]
Hesam Seyedin
Affiliation:
Health Management and Economics Research Center, Health Management Research Institute, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Morteza Rostamian
Affiliation:
English Department, School of Medicine, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran
Fahimeh Barghi Shirazi*
Affiliation:
Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Haleh Adibi Larijani
Affiliation:
Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
*
Corresponding author: Fahimeh Barghi Shirazi, Email fshirazi63@gmail.com.
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Abstract

Providing health care in times of complex emergencies (CEs) is one of the most vital needs of people. CEs are situations in which a large part of the population is affected by social unrest, wars, and food shortages. This systematic review study was conducted to identify the challenges of health-care delivery in CEs. We searched terms related to health-care delivery and CEs in PubMed, Web of Sciences, Science Direct, and Google scholar databases, as well as Persian databases SID and Magiran. The searching keywords included: “Health Care, Complex Crises, War, Humanitarian, Refugees, Displaced Persons, Health Services, and Challenges.” Of 409 records, we selected 6 articles based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) checklist. Studies were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The results show that CEs affect health-care delivery in 4 primary areas: the workforce, infrastructure, information access, and organization of health services. These areas can pose potential threats for health-care providers and planners at times of emergencies. Thus, they should be informed about these challenges to strengthen the health-care system.

Keywords

critical caredelivery of health careemergencieshealth services
Type
Systematic Review
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e56
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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